Dendron Town Council candidates reluctant to publish phone numbers

Dendron resident Helen Eggleston plans to sell her home in Dendron if Old… (Allison Williams, Daily…)

April 10, 2010|By By Allison T. Williams | 247-4535

DENDRON — Some Dendron Town Council candidates are reluctant to publish their telephone numbers because several town leaders say they have received harassing phone calls related to a proposed coal-fueled power plant.

"I was getting threatening calls and hang-ups at all hours before the vote was taken," said Mayor Yvonne Pierce, one of several incumbents who didn't want her phone number listed when the Daily Press requested information for election biographies.

In February, the council approved land-use permits that would allow Old Dominion Electric Cooperative to build the $6 billion power plant in Dendron if federal and state regulatory agencies sign off on it. The proposal sparked a firestorm of controversy, and has created a division in the once-close knit community.

Several council members — mostly power plant supporters — reported receiving similar calls and less frequently, vandalism to their property in the months before the council's vote, Pierce said. The most serious incident came the day after the rezoning was approved, when Councilwoman LaRita Pierce woke up to find a machete in her front yard. The county sheriff's office investigated, but there were no arrests.

Three of five incumbents and one other candidate have declined to publish phone numbers. Incumbent Misti Furr said her decision is strictly because her only line is a personal cell phone.

The candidates say they don't believe it makes any of them less accessible to the 300 residents of Dendron.

Home numbers for most current council members are available in the local phone directory, said incumbent Ruth Sheffield, who agreed to have her number published.

Mayor Pierce says her cell phone number is posted in the window of town hall.

"Most of us were born and raised in this town ... and we all live within walking distance of everybody in town," Pierce said. "Anyone in Dendron who wants to reach me knows how to do it."

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At issue

Dendron's Town Council has approved permits that would allow Old Dominion Electric Cooperative to build a coal-fueled power plant, sparking controversy and conflict in the close-knit community.